HKEX Nominates Kerry Rooks as Its Chief People Officer

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) announced that it has nominated Kerry Rooks as its new Chief People Officer, effective from 10 January 2022.

A press release shared with Finance Magnates informed that Kerry Brooks, previously the Chief Human Resources Officer at Prudential, has been named by HKEX, Asia’s largest stock market operator by market cap, as its new Chief People Officer.

Rooks will be in charge of Human Resources across HKEX. She will lead a team of HR professionals in Hong Kong, Mainland China and also internationally. Her role will require ensuring that HKEX continues to obtain the best expertise and talent management programmes, supporting the long-term development of the Group.

Additionally, Rooks will report to Nicolas Aguzin, the CEO of HKEX and will also become a member of the Group’s Management Committee. She is taking over the role from Paul Choi, the current Group Head of HR. Choi intends to pursue other career interests outside of the Group, but he will remain with the organisation as an Advisor until 31 March 2022.

Aguzin made a comment regarding Choi’s decision to leave: “On behalf of HKEX, I would like to thank Paul for his commitment and contributions as Group Head of HR. Over the last three years, he has supported the Board and management team in accelerating the transformation of the Group’s HR function, including the journey to upgrade the company’s leadership and diversity training programmes and to modernise the Group’s digital HR platforms. We wish him the very best in the next phase of his career.”

Rooks Employment Background

Prior to the announcement, Rooks has been based in Hong Kong as the Chief Human Resources Officer of Prudential HongKong. She has successfully fulfilled the role for more than thirteen years.

Earlier on, New York Life International, LLC recruited Rooks initially in late 2006 as the Human Resources Director covering Asia. After just over a year, she received a promotion to become the International Vice President of Talent Management for the Asia Region.

Before that AIG utilised her skills as an Organisational Development Specialist. Located in New York, she spent fourteen months in the role before the company elevated her to the role of Senior Manager of Organisational Development and relocated to Hong Kong.

A Wealth of Knowledge and Experience

Commenting on the announcement, Aguzin said: “I am very pleased to welcome Kerry to HKEX and to the Management Team. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience, having led a HR team supporting 1,300 employees, working as part of a global HR team spanning 22 countries. During her career, Kerry has worked in New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong in some of the world’s biggest insurance groups, in a variety of HR roles, and I know that her deep and broad experience will be invaluable to us as we continue to develop our business.”

In other related news, HKEX reported its average daily turnover for futures and options for the first eight months of 2021 in the derivatives market in September 2021. The stock market operator showed an increase of 2% with 1,209,685 contracts in total compared to the same period for the year prior.